My family was instrumental to my progression as a teacher and educational advocate through the struggles of my Italian great grandparents to survive knowing very little conversational or written English. They had 15 children. My great grandfather did back breaking work at the Peacedale Dye Works Factory, the big brick building that you drive by at the one way stop sign across from Peacedale Lily Pads Center on the way to Wakefield. Although he had a good job by migrant worker standards, he could not afford to pay someone to help his wife who had heart disease from the stress of multiple pregnancies and a poor diet. The result was that my grandmother was required to stay home from school to help with her twin and toddler siblings in 8th grade and never went back. I just thought her word pronunciation was off due to having had Italian speaking parents her entire life. “Humidity” confused for “Humility” could be just a “child of immigrants” word choice fluke. It was when I realized how she signed a greeting card to me that she didn’t just have poor spelling. She lacked the elementary level vocabulary and grammatical knowledge base to successfully write a sentence. I realized that my sweet hardworking grandmother was functionally illiterate. I was angry that any school administrator would not step in to save a child like my grandmother from dropping out. Where were the truancy officers? Where was the accountability? This is why I so badly want to get back into the classroom, preferably as an 8th grade teacher, and work in education to prevent at-risk children from disengaging from grade school. I also helped counsel many teens and adults who had a common theme, that they all wished they had worked harder and done better in grade school because maybe their lives would be better. I could not agree more. That is why I’ve decided to enter the MAT/TCP Program. I don’t just want to be an excellent teacher; I also want to successfully advocate for students, teachers, and the schools as a whole. It is the great teacher role models that I have learned from motivate me to be a strong supporter of my students, to show up to games or student events, to recognize student efforts, and participate in teacher/student collaborations such as art shows or school spirit basketball games. My background in social work also helps to determine if a child is potentially in crisis which has helped me tremendously when working with grade school students and with adult learners as well. Lastly, my five years of military experience prepares me for anything that might come my way in the educational arena which gives me the confidence to succeed no matter what challenges are presented to me.